Hey guys today we will know about really weird but extremely
amazing and rare animal, the name called Saiga antelope. We should try to save
this animal.
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Antilopinae
Genus: Saiga Species: S. tatarica
So let's know about him,The saiga antelope is a critically
endangered antelope that originally inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian
steppe zone from the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains and Caucasus into
Dzungaria and Mongolia.
They also lived in Beringian North America during the
Pleistocene. Today, the dominant subspecies (S. t. tatarica) is only found in
one location in Russia (in The Republic of Kalmykia) and three areas in
Kazakhstan (the Ural, Ustiurt and Betpak-Dala populations). A proportion of the
Ustiurt population migrates south to Uzbekistan and occasionally Turkmenistan
in winter. It is extinct in People's Republic of China and southwestern
Mongolia. It was hunted extensively in Romania and Moldova until it became
extinct in those regions in the end of the 18th century. The Mongolian
subspecies (S. t. mongolica) is found only in western Mongolia. Saiga tatarica is the only species in the
genus Saiga. Although there is little geographical variation, two subspecies
are recognized: Saiga tatarica tatarica (the nominate subspecies, to which the
majority of the global population belongs), and Saiga tatarica mongolica
(endemic to western Mongolia). Grubb (2005) recognized the Pleistocene
mammoth-steppe Saiga as a distinct species S. borealis, including the living
subspecies mongolica.
Fossils
of saiga, concentrated mainly in central and northern Eurasia, date back to as
early as the late Pleistocene (nearly 0.1 Mya). An extinct species of Saiga, S.
borealis, has been identified from the Pleistocene of northern Eurasia. Fossils
excavated from the Buran Kaya III site (Crimea) date back to the transition from
Pleistocene to Holocene. The morphology of saiga does not seem to have changed
significantly since prehistoric timesThe saiga stands 61–81 centimetres at the shoulder, and weighs 26–69 kilograms.
The head-and-body length is typically between 100 and 140 centimetres . A
prominent feature of the saiga is the pair of closely spaced, bloated nostrils
directed downward. Other facial features include the dark markings on the
cheeks and the nose, and the 7–12 centimetres
long ears.
During summer migrations the saigas' nose helps filter out
dust kicked up by the herd and cools the animal's blood. In the winter it heats
up the frigid air before it is taken to the lungs. The coat shows seasonal changes. In summer,
the coat appears yellow to red, fading toward the flanks. The Mongolian saiga
can develop a sandy colour. The coat develops a pale grayish brown colour in
winter, with a hint of brown on the belly and the neck. The ventral parts are
generally white. The hairs, that measure 18–30 millimetres long in summer, can
grow as long as 40–70 millimetres in winter.
This forms a 12–15 centimetres long mane
on the neck. Two distinct moults can be observed in a year: one in spring
(April to May) and another in autumn (late September or early October to late
November or early December). The tail measures 6–12 centimetres .Only males
possess horns.
These horns, thick and slightly translucent, are wax-coloured
and show 12 to 20 pronounced rings. With a base diameter of 25–33 millimetres,
the horns of the Russian saiga measure 28–38 centimetres in length;
the horns of the Mongolian saiga,
however, reach a maximum length of 22 centimetres Saigas form very large herds
that graze in semideserts, steppes, grasslands and possibly open woodlands
eating several species of plants, including some that are poisonous to other animals.
They can cover long distances and swim across rivers, but they avoid steep or
rugged areas. The mating season starts in November, when stags fight for the
acceptance of females. The winner leads a herd of five to 50 females. In
springtime, mothers come together in mass to give birth. Two thirds of births
will be twins, the remaining third of births will be of a single foal. Saiga,
like the Mongolian gazelles, are known for their extensive migrations across
the steppes that allow them to escape natural calamities. Saiga are highly
vulnerable to wolves.
Juvenile saiga are targeted by foxes, steppe eagles,
golden eagles, dogs and ravensDuring the last glacial period, the saiga ranged
from the British Isles through Central Asia and the Bering Strait into Alaska
and Canada's Yukon and Northwest Territories. By the classical age they were
apparently considered a characteristic animal of Scythia, judging from the
historian Strabo's description of an animal called the "Kolos" that
was "between the deer and ram in size" and was (understandably but
wrongly) believed to drink through its nose.Numerous evidence show the
importance of the antelope to Andronovo culture settlements. Illustrations of
saiga antelopes can be found among the cave paintings that were dated back to
seventh-fifth century B.C. Moreover, saiga bones were found among the remains
of other wild animals near the human settlements.
The fragmented information
shows an abundance of saigas on the territory of modern Kazakhstan in the
14th-16th centuries. The migratory routes ranged throughout the country's area,
especially the region between Volga and Ural rivers was heavily populated. The
population's size remained high until the second half of the 19th century when
excessive horn export began. The high price and demand for horns drove radical
hunting. The number of animals decreased in all regions and the migratory
routes shifted southward.After a rapid decline they were nearly completely
exterminated in the 1920s, but they were able to recover. By 1950, two million
of them were found in the steppes of the USSR. Their population fell
drastically following the collapse of the USSR due to uncontrolled hunting and
demand for horns in Chinese medicine. At one point, some conservation groups,
such as the World Wildlife Fund, encouraged the hunting of this species, as its
horn was presented as an alternative to that of a rhinoceros.Today, the
populations have again shrunk enormously — as much as 95% in 15 years. The
saiga is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN. An estimated total
number of 50,000 saigas survive today in Kalmykia, three areas of Kazakhstan
and in two isolated areas of Mongolia.
Another small population in the
Pre-Caspian region of Russia remains under extreme threat. The horn of the saiga antelope is used in
traditional Chinese medicine, and can sell for as much as $US150. Demand for
the horns has wiped out the population in China, where the saiga antelope is a
Class I protected species, and drives poaching and smuggling.Under the auspices
of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the
Bonn Convention, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Concerning Conservation,
Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope was concluded and came
into effect 24 September 2006.
The saiga's decline being one of the fastest
population collapses of large mammals recently observed, the MoU aims to reduce
current exploitation levels and restore the population status of these nomads
of the Central Asian steppes. Agricultural
advancement and human settlements kept shrinking the habitat areas of the
saigas since 20th century. A
strange animal mystery captivated the internet back in 2015: 200,000 critically
endangered saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan died from internal bleeding after
infections. Surreal photographs showed hundreds of dead antelopes that appeared
to have simply dropped dead where they stood as a herd.
Some researchers now
have an update on that story. Following
the die off, folks quickly guessed that infections from normally harmless
Pasteurella multocida caused the die-off. Deeper analysis has found another
connection: the infection was strongly linked to warmer weather and higher
humidity. That’s bad news, considering the whole climate change thing.“The fact that P. multocida infection in saigas... appears
strongly linked to high humidity and temperature is of concern going forward,
given that a climate change–induced increase in temperature is projected for
the region over the short to medium term” the international team of authors
write in the study published in Science Advances.Virtually no saigas in the afflicted group survived, and the
die-off killed almost two-thirds of the entire global saiga population,
according to the paper. The researchers couldn’t design an experiment, and
instead just began taking data, observing the dying animals and performing
necropsies afterwards.The diagnosis was a disease called Hemorrhagic septicemia,
caused by the usually benign Pasteurella multocida. But the quick, simultaneous
onset of the symptoms in the whole group implied some environmental change
occurred—like warm weather and high humidity.
There are a lot more questions to answer, though. The evidence
linking environmental conditions to saiga death is concerning, but the
researchers don’t actually know how the changes could cause the bacteria to
become more deadly, yet.
Please save this Rare and amazing Animals before they Extinct.
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